Fast Friday

Today's going along pretty well. It's payday today and I paid my dental bill. Only one more till I'm all caught up!

The bug database was down all morning, so we didn't get to enter any new issues. Instead, we worked on the default controller settings for the end users.

This week went by pretty fast - not as quick as last week, but not bad at all! I'm looking forward to the month of writing - I hope to get in the 'writing zone' and then just keep in the habit, keep writing, at least something every day.I still need to pick a story to write for November.

I've been thinking on and off about how I want to get all my short stories collected into a real book. Mebbe through cafe press.com - we'll see. I need to get around to doing that before I lose them all in a hard drive crash one of these days.

It's lunch time and I just got back from a walk around the block - it's nice and cool outside! October in California is brisk, but not cold. I'm planning to sit in the courtyard and do some novel writing every day during lunch - hopefully it's not too cold for comfort.

The computer that I ordered for Mom and Dad has been shipped by HP! Right now it is estimated to arrive on Wednesday the 3rd of November. That's better than it was - yesterday, it was scheduled to ship on Nov 1st. Sounds good to me! I hope it works well for them!

Yesterday, my boss mentioned that another company was needing QA Testers, and he wanted to recommend me. I can't remember the name of the company - Mad something? Anyway, I don't know anything about it, so I don't know what to think.

Would I be working at Realtime or at Mad something? What kind of product? Not the kid stuff, please - that gets old so quickly. And for what sort of wage? Many questions, no answers. I could ask my boss, but it all seems very preliminary right now.

2005 - The Year of Mystery! Whooooooo

We spent most of the day waiting for the new database to become active. Finally, around 3 o'clock, we were able to start entering the bugs we have been jotting down for a couple of weeks. Most of the ones I have are pretty minor, but hey, they're bugs.

I'm kind of in a confused state right now, I don't know what to do about 2005. I've been talking about going to school, but on and off lately, Michelle and I have been discussing moving next year. Should I start school and go to a part time work schedule if we're trying to move? Doesn't seem like a good way to save any money.

I'm kind of in a quandry right now. Part of me is afraid of the whole school idea and is looking for a way to put it off - is that what this is? Or the longer I think about the school idea, the more ideas/reasons I come up with to do other things.

Michelle is off tomorrow - she has to go in to work for a couple of hours, but that's it. I've been wanting to discuss it, but I don't wanna get into a big discussion about our future after she's had a long workday. So tomorrow, we can talk about it.

I'm still thinking about which story idea to use for NaNoWriMo. I dunno.

I have a couple more ideas for stories, neither of them are very funny though...

1) A twisted reality show - a group is picked up off the street and taken to a govt bunker. They're told that the world has come to an end, and that they - and several other bunkers dotting the globe - are the future of the human race. A small team of control room workers in a separate site must watch over all of the bunkers and guide them through any problems or repairs. The problems turn out to be engineered by the control room people, to draw dramatic scenes from the bunker. The bunker people are in on the whole scheme and it is their job to break the control room people. They must make the scenes as painful and stressful as possible for the control room people, until control room people can't take it any more and a) try to reveal the truth to Bunker or b) quit and walk out.

2) When walking to the car or towards the house, I hold my keys in my hand. I look down sometimes and realize that I'm holding the car key when I'm heading for the house. These are usually the times when I'm feeling cooped up and would rather be out driving. Sometimes I'm holding the house key as I approach the car, and I realize I'd rather be at home. It's as if I'm subconsciously choosing the key that leads me to what I am in the mood for. So what if, one day when I looked down, I realized I was holding a new key - one I've never seen before. This key leads to a new place - a place where some subconscious desire can be fulfulled.

What to do, What to do...

Writing the novel in a month still seems like a wacky lark at this point, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm reading more of the No Plot No Problem book, and it's offering more insights than it did in the beginning.

In the 'wacky lark' vein, I was mentally browsing the list of story ideas from yesterday. None of the story ideas seem fun. Certainly no wackiness. Wouldn't it be more fun to write a story that had, you know, some fun in it? All the ideas seem like they would make good novels, but they're each so serious.

I'm really a goofy guy, so all this seriousness, I just don't know. Maybe I was looking for ideas worthy of being a novel, instead of something fun to write (and hopefully - read). I don't know about writing a funny book - when I try to be funny, it doesn't work. What works best is if I ramble on enough, eventually a funny nugget falls out of my mouth.

I'll have to dig around in my brain and see if anything funny floats to the top. "Funny? Where are you? Time for Dinner! Quirky? Get your butt over here and I mean Now!"

Hmn, we'll have to wait and see.

I could cheat and turn one of the serious story ideas into a silly one. Change "Nazi" to "Clown" and so forth. Um - I think that would just be creepy, not silly.

Reading The Life of Pi recently makes me realize how you can tell a story as if it were really happening, using metaphors for characters - not telling the readers that this is happening - until the end, when you basically change the meaning of the entire book with just a few lines. This is something I would like to do some time. It's a really interesting device.

This device could seem like a cheap trick, if done poorly. I think it could have been done better in Life of Pi, for that matter. It was too quick. The reveal should have been drawn out a bit more, fleshed out a bit. Hee hee. Fleshed out. (Read the book).

I have one story idea where this person solves crimes by having auditory visions/hallucinations. They hear song lyrics that portend the future and the past. They can then act on what they think is the message in the lyrics. However, if they don't know the actual song, and the full lyrics, they can misconstrue the meaning and get themselves into trouble, with funny results. Sounds hard to write for someone who doesn't know anything about music. More a Liz story. I should tell her about this idea.

I have another idea about a guy who gets a job with the express purpose of quitting in a huff. He's always wanted to say "This is bullshit. I'm out." in the middle of a meeting and just leave. Leave everything in his desk, walk right out. Right now that's all there is to the idea. I don't know what could happen next... Mebbe because the company has had such high turnover that they come to this guy for advice about how to better run the company. He's not interested in helping, so they kidnap him to pump him for information. And then... I don't know what then. They torture him for info and make him watch a brainwashing video over and over. The guy escapes from his kidnappers and... something else happens. Hmn, kind of like Office Space, and kind of not. I think the guy needs more of an agenda than just quitting a job. I'll have to think some more. So far, the 'guy quitting his job' story seems like the best fun one.

It's an hour later and I've tried getting on Blogger.com a couple of times to post this, but it's not working. Mebbe they are doing maintenance. Anyway, the more I think about the office guy idea, the less funny it seems. I guess anything can be funny, but office guy is more quirky than anything. I guess I'm overly critical of my own ideas. Yep. That's it.

Here's a fun story idea - for the end of the world to come about (per the Christian books) certain things, people, and events have to come along at the right times. One guy realizes that the end of the world is approaching, and he decides to stop it. He steals the Ark of the Covenant (See The Bible - Hebrews, Verse 4) and takes off with it, hiding it away. Trouble is, this was his destiny all along. He has taken the ark to where it needs to be. Bwah hah haa! Now that's some ironic shit.

I don't know which story to do... Of course, I still have a few days before I decide - the contest starts on Monday. Maybe I'll print all the ideas out, cut the paper into slips, and choose one from a hat. Hmn. I would like to have a couple of days to meditate on my upcoming book before I have to start writing it, you know?

Yet Another Monday

I'm at work, per usual. It's a slow day, per usual. Did I mention that the job we're doing now is scheduled to be complete on December 1st? That's the plan. So, barring any extra projects or delays, that will likely be my last day. At a guess, I'd have to assume we'll be late by a week or two - since most projects run over. Hmn, December 1st is a Wednesday. Odd day to be one's last day, what?

I've been stressing about the whole "go to school, eventually get a real job" plan. I dunno how I'll do at school. Normal classes = fine. (I think) Math classes = fear. I talked to Dad about my Math Stress while I was home in Cleveland, and he was encouraging, saying that if I work at it, I'll get it. Also that I didn't need an 'A' in the class, I just needed to pass it. True enough.

We'll see what happens. My Mom's view is you'll be 40 either way. Do you want to be 40 with a degree, or without? Good point. I don't know that I need a degree for what I'm planning... It's likely that I'm fooling myself to think I'll be able to take some classes and get certified, and get a job. I need to talk to some people in the industry.

I want to discuss my "writer" scenerio with Michelle, but I have not been able to bring myself to. I'd work part time, just as if I were going to school. Instead of going to school, I would write. Writing is cheaper than school - no classes to pay for, no books, no parking, gas, on and on. I think the classes are $18 a unit. Most classes would be $54 at that rate, each class requiring one or more books.

I don't know if I want to do the "writer" scenerio because I'm lazy and afraid of college, or because Damn It, I'm Meant to be An Artist!! Hmn. I think a real writer would probably spend more time writing than I do. Wake up in the night and write a story. Get inspired at work and spend lunch writing a story. Spend the weekend - not watching tv - but writing. I don't do any of those things. I think the last story I wrote is a couple of years old now. I have plenty of ideas, but I shelve them.

I've entered a writing contest through google/blogger. It's a thing where you write a book. You do a chapter a day, every day for the month of November. Each of these chapters are basically blog entries, and people can read them. At the end, the best book wins.

I'm gonna do my best and get up to 50,000 words (the least you can write to qualify) and tell a good story. If I can do this, it's a good sign that I Am An Artist Damn It.

We shall see!

Cheeseburger and a Pair of Dice?

Today was a good day, but long! Michelle and I went to the Jimmy Buffet concert in Chula Vista, CA

The concert was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was delayed because of rain.

I was at work until about 2pm, and then headed home. I met up with Michelle at the apartment, and we packed up and got ready.

Michelle did the driving down to San Diego, which was mostly uneventful. At one point, we thought we had passed our exit. Turns out, there are two roads named "Palm" within a 5 mile stretch. Good thinking, oh silly street-naming-people.

We made a pit stop at McDonalds and still made it to the Coors Ampitheater by around 7pm. ((It takes about 3-4 hours to drive to San Diego on a Thursday afternoon.))

The parking area was packed with cars - the 'general parking' area is an empty lot covered with the shredded wood/bark that is often used for landscaping. Since the Ford has pretty low clearance, it was a bumpy ride to the parking space. We feared we would be blocked in by people parking behind us, but the parking attendants allowed for plenty of room.

Let me say up front that I have been to very few concerts in my life - - let me count them up real quick... Hmn. I think 9 or 10, counting Jimmy Buffet. I've never seen such a laid back, excited and happy crowd. There must be something about Jimmy that puts people at ease. This was probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to!

Many people had dressed up, wearing tropical shirts, grass skirts, parrot hats, shark hats, blender hats, on and on. Everyone was getting their drink on and having a jolly old time.

Temperature was in the low 60's, and it was chilly! If we didn't have a 4 hour drive home waiting for us, I think we would have drank more. We got one marguerita and shared it, I think Michelle had more of it than I did, and we threw it away before we'd finished it. We're just not big drinkers. This isn't a bad thing.

We had good seats - the ampitheater is very nice, well designed, and the seats were comfy. The crowd was jubilant but well behaved, a bunch of silly people shaking their booties and cheering. It was as fun to watch the crowd as it was to watch the performers!

It was a chilly night - my hands and face got cold pretty quickly. But at least it wasn't raining! There was very little wind, too. We were pretty lucky. If we go again, I'll bring gloves. The footing was slanted (in keeping with the ampitheater, big curving bowl idea) and that was a little hard on the feet after a while standing.

Jimmy performed for over two hours, playing a generous mix of new songs, old songs, and covers. One of his backup singers did a great rendition of R-E-S-P-E-C-T during the intermission. Jimmy is all about crowd pleasing songs, and even the slower songs (like 'Come Monday') were well received by the crowd. There were lots of lighters lit for 'Come Monday'. Who knew?

Michelle and I took off running after the first encore, and it only took about 20 minutes to get out of the area and onto the road. The local police did a great job of keeping people moving and well directed. We got home at about 1:30, happy but tired.

It was a long, long drive and Michelle did it all by herself, both ways. She's a trooper!! We agreed that if we ever went down to the San Diego area for a concert again, we'd stay the night.

How Bout Them Apples?

We tested the Generic PC version of the game today, taking a lot of notes. The bug database won't be up till Friday, so for now we're jotting. The game is largely the same, except now we're using keyboard-and-mouse, instead of ps2 controller. My wrist is sore!

Relaxed at home with Michelle. I enjoyed some cold pizza and watched a marathon about Broadway. Michelle played on the computer and did a schedule. I think.

Bratness and I are working to get Mom and Dad a new computer. I've got a good one lined up from HP, and now I'm just waiting for Michelle's check to come. Maybe I can just order the PC over the weekend, and Brat's check will show up Monday or Tuesday... I want the PC to arrive as soon as possible. Too bad I didn't know they needed one before my visit. I could have been setting up while I was there.

Hurry Up and Fait

Another slow day at work, I played Battle Realms all morning, until my neck started screaming from the funky angle I hold my head while I play.

I surfed the web and did some research on El Camino College. I sent the college an email with some questions about attending. I dunno if I asked the right dept the right questions. I guess I'll find out.

At about 4pm, we finally got a build to test - after weeks of nothing to do. So for 2 hours we messed around with the 'Generic PC' version and took a bunch of notes. The database isn't ready yet, so we're keeping a running log of what we find.

Michelle and I relaxed in the evening, ate pizza, enjoyed massages, and watched season 1 of 'Sex in the City'. It's all right... Nothing I'd set the VCR for. The writing is decent, but predictable at times.

Yet Another Slow Work Day

Nothing to do! We're still just sitting here getting paid. Well, at least I didn't miss anything while I was gone.

I spent all morning updating my posts for the week I was in Cleveland. I think I may have gotten some of the order wrong - We went to a restaurant on Wednesday, and I said Tuesday, that sort of thing - but I think I got most of the events right. I should have taken notes while I was there, each night before bed. Next time.

It's lunch time, and I'm waiting for the microwave to be free. It's odd, but Eugen and I tend to head to the microwave at the same time every day - even if the hour varies between 1 and 2 o'clock. Within the same 15 seconds, Eugen and I are hungry at the same time, it seems.

Yawn Stretch Nap.

Back in EL-AY.

Good to be Home!

Michelle was off from work!! We slept in and relaxed. I watched a couple episodes of Alias while Michelle puttered around the house, checking her email and chatting with Liz. We went out to lunch at Ruby's http://www.rubys.com/ and then to Borders to browse the books. On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store and picked up some goodies for the coming week.

I spent the rest of the day watching Alias, munching cookies and being lazy. We only have one disc left before we're caught up to the end of season three!! The disc we're waiting for will probably show up Tuesday.

I don't know what will be going on at work. Did they have a busy week? Was I missed? Is the job over with? No idea what to expect.

It's nice to go on trips, but it's also great to sleep in your own bed!

Saturday Already? So Little Time!

When I'd gotten back to the house Friday night, I made a list of things I wanted to get done before I left Ohio. It was a long list!! Trying to get better performance out of the PC had taken a lot of time.

I hadn't shown the family my web site, installed iTunes, upgraded to AOL 9.0, shown Mom the Netflix web site, on and on. I think there were about 15 things on the list. I set my alarm and got up early on Saturday, about 7am. I showered, ate, and then packed up my goodies so I would be ready to head out to the airport. I spent like 3 hours on the PC - finally getting Live Update to run - before Mom and Dad got up.

Saturday we relaxed and hung out around the house. It was a cold and rainy, very windy day and we all stayed snug inside. Michelle had stayed out late with Garrett and Jadi, and she slept in until I woke her at about 11.

Michelle let me take a bunch of pics for the merchandise page of my web site - she actually had at least one of each type of shirt that I wanted!! How cool is that? It will be nice to be able to use her pics, instead of the silly, temporary ones of me.

I got to grab a few minutes to show Mom, Dad and Michelle my web site! They were very patient as I rambled on about FictionInteractive.com and had only nice things to say! It was nice to show them what I'd been rambling about for the past couple years.

We left for the airport about 4:30. We got there in good time, only to discover that my flight was delayed for about an hour. It was leaving at 7:05 instead of 5:50, and the family was kind enough to wait with me. I felt bad, but it was nice to have some more time with them. I got to my gate in plenty of time, but I saw no plane waiting. My departure was now changed to 7:25.

Eventually we boarded, and the flight seemed pretty full at first. I ended up with 3 seats to myself! How cool is that? I took over the middle seat and relaxed. I read my book, watched snippets of Spiderman 2, and played my gameboy. The flight was about half empty, and a lot of people got to stretch out. It was a nice ride, good flight.

It was really good to see Michelle again. We're very close, very snuggly. Being apart for so long is hard for a close couple! Seeing my family was fun, but my "real life" seemed really far away. Cleveland felt like visiting the past, like the airplane was a time machine. The flight back seemed like returning to the present. Odd feeling.

Michelle had received two more discs of Alias while I was away! I watched one episode before I passed out.

The Powerhouse and Cabaret Da Da

Mom and Michelle were off on Friday! We spent a lazy morning together. In the early afternoon we went to the family's favorite Chinese buffet and had a very nice lunch! I tried to pay but Michelle finagled the bill away from me and gave it to Dad. Michelle went to get Garrett in the afternoon. I kept working on the computer, trying to get it to work.

Dad and I went to Best Buy, and he bought a new CD-Rom drive for their PC. He spent the next couple of hours installing it, and it worked!! I was able to install the Antivirus, but I kept having problems getting the Live Update to run correctly. There were also some blue screen errors that kept popping up. I think it might have been conflicts with the original CD-Rom drivers, but I'm not sure. The messages in the errors was very vague - "67356H error in VF2828" that kind of stuff.

Friday night, Michelle's old friend and now coworker Jadi came over, and we all went out for the evening. We went to The Powerhouse http://www.photohome.com/photos/ohio-pictures/cleveland/powerhouse-1.html which is located in The Flats district of Cleveland (at the Nautica Complex), the newly renovated 100-year-old Powerhouse features dining, entertainment and specialty retail shops. This four-level brick structure, known for its smokestacks and arched windows, originally powered Cleveland's electric railway and streetcar system and is a National Historic Landmark.

(From Cleveland Scene Magazine): "The Powerhouse was once, as its name suggests, a power-generating facility for the network of streetcars that served Cleveland before exhaust-spewing buses rendered them obsolete. Abandoned and left to the rats and pigeons, the massive red brick structure remained a blight on the banks of the Cuyahoga until The Flats moved westward, and developers got the crazy idea that The Powerhouse could be reclaimed and renovated into a funky waterside entertainment and retail complex."

We played some games in a mini arcade, and then went to dinner at The Rock Bottom Brewery, a restaurant and pub. The food was very good - I had beer-batter mahi tacos - and we talked and laughed.

After dinner we drove further into downtown Cleveland, and ended up at our destination for the evening, "Cabaret Da-Da" which is a comedy and improv club. The show was two hours long, but felt like 45 minutes!

The actors were very funny, and asked for a lot of input from the audience. The only problem with that is, there were only about 10 people in the audience, and 4 of them was our group. We were a shy group, so it was a bit embarrassing. It was fun!

The actors were great, they were really focused and funny. I wish Michelle (wife version) could have been there! We really like to watch 'Whose Line is it, Anyway" and I know she would have enjoyed the show! We've never gone to a comedy show in Los Angeles, I don't know why. We need to get out more!

We didn't get out of the comedy club until about 12:30am, and home around 1am. Michelle dropped me off, then took Garrett and Jadi home. Nikita barked and barked at me as I tried to figure out which key went where. I was sure Mom and Dad would get up to investigate, but they did not. Very fun night!